Great War (Anteria)

The Great War
Clockwise from the top: Gadori troops entrenched in central Qazhshava Nicersdahian troops retreating through a decimated forest Air raid over the trenches in Tiskaiya Lyonheimer troops during winter in Alemani One of the uses of tank warfare on the Qash front
Date 4 June 1905 - 11 November 1911 (6 years, 5 months and 7 days) Location Slavic Belt of Thuadia Kasian Peninsula of Thuadia Western Thrismari Southern Thrismari Hagalaz Ocean Result Alliance victory New Sebronia established Zhoushi Union formed Troubles in Zhousheng Krenya's isolationism Qazhshava united Reunification of Kentalis Political revolution in Lyonheimer Multiple border agreements Haldenian Summer Road to the Era of Civil Wars
Belligerents
The Alliance: Gadorien Bogmia Zhengia Kančӑn Kistolia (Brief) Tiskaiya Bretislavia Blechingia Tytherial Nicersdah Vultesia File:Latvia and Saaremaa LatSaaFlag.png San Calia File:Yodivenis YodivenisFlag.jpg Bisveni Gavrilia Kiyortza (From 1909) Co-belligerent: Neuewland Neuewland proper Colony of Prei Meas Colony of Storvan Torvon (From 1907) Hoterallia	Iron Pact: Sebric Empire Krenya Krenya proper Colony of Aleman Colony of Abjekia Colony of Étaín Dutchy Empire (After Kistolia) Velharia Fallooplesburg Lyonheimer Yirġadas Haldenia File:Arcadia ArcadiaCommonwealthFlag.png File:Torvon TorvonFlag.png (Until 1907) Veritian Empire Ereska Arakovac Co-belligerent: Velnotia
Commanders and leaders
Aldreyksander IV. Filip Lysina (1905-1910) Igor Polacky (1910-1911) Metodin Sukhoj Inar Šot'am Dġohar Galač Destalės XI. Dmytro VI. James III. Vilhjálmur II. Thorin Felwyn Drexa the Great (1905-1910) Rezsala Quertna (1910-1911) Vælens IV. Vukan Ferjancić Francis Mesoli Cedric Stevenson Antanasye Gišyže Fylip Lasyže Augusto Velázquez Lucero Mira Irkitzi	Bjerk of Laosanēs Valrin Kren Esteni Nėnesze Wiedmar IV. Stephen Orban III Urdun Enverdhe Šolim Tomanas Markus Fanatom (1908-1918) Duke Anton Kolar Leo II. Venceslav Šoštariè Rafko Džafiæ Viskhazhi Axmadov Israpil Khadzhiyev
Strength
~25 million	~20 million
Casualties and losses
~9 million KIA/MIA ~6 million WIA	~11 million KIA/MIA ~5 million WIA

The Great War was a first (and as of now the biggest) global conflict, fought mostly in southern and eastern Thuadia and western Thrismari. It is the only conflict to be classified as a all-out world war. It was the most lethal conflict in human history and created the political climate that lead to the Era of Civil Wars.

Situation before the war

Multiple imperialist countries in central Thuadia created a so called "Iron Pact", which aimed as a cooperative offensive alliance, which hoped to strenghten its members by expanding into non-member's territory. With the historical colonial empires such as Krenya on board, but also centralised empires such as the Sebric Empire, the alliance aimed to capture multiple neighboring countries and scramble Thuadia and Thrismari and split it among themselves.

The countermovement to this military force, the so-called "Alliance" was a hesitant group of mostly pacifist democratic nations trying to counter the imperialist union. Its members were mostly smaller non-imperial countries with only defensive ambitions, with some exceptions of disunited countries (such as Kančӑn in Qazhshava). Some nations far away from the conflict, such as Layfet supported the Alliance politically, but did little to aid in the fighting.

Although the Alliance was mostly non-imperialist, it de facto had multiple members which used to have a colonial empire at the time (Kentalis, Gadorien). Those countries, however, adopted more democratic principles and supported the self-determination of countries in their respective empires.

War begins

Sometimes in early May 1905, Yirġadas launched a series of provocative strikes on Kančӑn, hoping to reunite Qazhshava under imperial government. On May 21st, about a brigade of Yirġadasan troops crossed the border into Kančӑn and slaughtered three villages of people they deemed unworthy to live. This caused Kančӑn to quickly mobilize and declare war on June 4th.
Krenya, hoping to get southern areas of Kančӑn for itself, joined the war and crossed border into Kančӑn. This action caused a domino effect, in which countries from both sides started declaring war on each other. By mid July 1905, the Sebric Empire, Yirġadas, Krenya and Velharia were at war with Gadorien, Kančӑn, Bogmia and Zhengia and more countries joined in.

War in central Thuadia

Qash front

Kančӑn advance

Shortly after the war was declared, Kančӑn forces quickly established a frontline and pushed against Yirġadasan provocations. By mid summer, they managed to push up to 300km into Yirġadasan territory and established a strong army in the region. Kančӑn diplomats established a special Rishic-run local government in the areas originally captured during the advance, securing some legitimacy of the advance. Jigradan forces were eventually given orders to dig in and stop retreating, discontinuing the maneuver warfare. The later trench warfare battles in central Qazhshava were the most bloody front of the Thuadian campaigns.

In September 1905, Krenyan armies entered southern Qazhshava, forcing Gadori forces to establish a second front to defend their territory (the first one being shared with Bogmia against Velharia). Around the same time, multiple clashes happened in the Hagalaz Ocean between Gadori and Torvonese ships, pushing Torvonese Empire to join the war on Iron Pact's side.

Battles over inches

TBA

The final push

TBA

Tiskai front

The Sȝreener Plan

Krenyan leader gave order on the strategic advance into bordering Tiskai territories, hoping to take bordering areas and establish bridgeheads in a possible future advance into Kančӑn. This advance was not approved by the Tiskai government and local forces were swiftly given orders to act, forcing Jigradan to divert resources from the central front to establish a secondary front in Tiskaiya. At that time, the Dutchy Empire joined the conflict and send its forces to the Tiskai front, which despite the implementation of the trench warfare was slowly moving deeper into Tiskai territory.

Mountain combat

Airplane of a Tiskai fighter Yurij Viktorovych Kyrychenko, also known as the "Green Baron"

TBA

Tiskaiya on counteroffensive

TBA

Velharian front

Velharian advance

The Kingdom of Velharia hoped to take control of more territory and hopefully reclaim former eastern border lost after the Second Western Imperial War with the Empire of Three Kings in late 18th century as well to take up Gadorien into its sphere of influence as the result of the war.

The Velharian monarchy quickly joined the war and opened multiple advances into Bogmian and Gadori territories, expecting Krenya to send a stronger support later that year. This help, however, never arrived, as Krenyan colonies were attacked and the unexpected war in Tiskaiya drained the Krenyan army potential. Quickly, in the jungles of southern Gadorien as well as in multiple river mudlands of the western parts of the New Bogmian March became a deadly trap to the unprepared and underequiped Velharian forces.

Jungle wars

TBA

War in Velharia

TBA

Požanovan Fronts

Situation before the war

When the Great War began, all four of the Požanovanian nations vowed to stay neutral in the conflict as per agreement to the Tulcurea accords which ended the second Požanovac split, but this did not stop the nations from picking sides. Ereska particularly expressed support of Krenya in their invasion of Tiskaiya, much to the dismay of Bisveni. The situation on Požanovac remained tense, with it often being used by both Alliance and Iron pact nations as a supply station. All of this changed when a Bogmian ship, en-route to the Bisveni capital of Cače, was destroyed by the Ereskan Navy, which accumulated in a series of events that caused both Bisveni and Ereska to pick different sides, Ereska joined the Iron pact, while Bisveni joined the alliance. On November 10th, 1905, Ereska launched a series of attacks against the Bisveni border, quickly seizing most of the border crossings and a single town on the border. The Bisveni army declared an emergency and Premier Antanasye Gišyže was given a martial term. Slowly but surely, Bisveni defences held the line against Ereska, and two weeks into the war, progress was all but halted.

First months

In the first weeks of the Bisveni-Ereskan conflict, both Kentalis and Arakovac declared their support of different sides, but both did not get directly involved yet. However, during the 1905-06 new year’s ceremony in Polácica, Kentalis, Bisveni Premier Gišyže was shot during the celebrations, killing him. The attack caused a wave of superstition across Kentalian society, many suspected that Ereska was responsible for the attack, something which was proven to be true later into the war. The Kentalian Parliament, in January, voted in favour of joining the alliance, and a subsequent referendum proved that the majority of the Kentalian population was too. February 2 1906 marked the official date of Kentalian membership of the alliance and on February 3th it joined the war against Ereska. Ereskan defences on the Kentalian border were severely understaffed as a consequence of the war with Bisveni, resulting in the defensive line collapsing on the 7th, four days after Kentalis joined the war. Kentalian advance was quick but was eventually halted at the West bank of the Torug river, which was flooded in order to create a defensive line. Arakovac officially joined the war in March, as it was expected that Kentalis would not stop with Ereska. Arakovacan soldiers quickly filled gaps in Ereskan lines, and slowly pushed into Kentalis from the North. All of the Požanovanian nations were once again at war.

Kentalian Soldier near the Torug defensive line

Kistolian revolution

The revolt started on May 21st 1905, when Jon Ka, along with his entire unit (Small-Class National Guard Unit), were killed Janen Square, by extremists. The cause for the abrupt start to the revolution is unknown, but many historians assume that Esteni Nėnesze, an extremist, had a persuasive tone, and convinced many people to join his cause.

The war raged on throughout Kistolia, buildings burned down, towns blown up. Some Kistolians even stormed prisons, attacking guards and setting prisoners free. Most notably Eskele Netrisi, who was an arsonist, was released, and wreaked havoc on cities.

This went on until June 19th 1905, when Kistolian Generals ordered a surrender, as Kistolian troops were leaing the country to fight in The Great War. Shortly after that, the Dutchy Empire was established, and people who were let out of prison were taken back. Along woth that The Dutchy Empire had a short economical crisis due to the war, but it was handled well by officials, and the Dutchy Empire joined the Iron Pact.

War in Thrismari

The Southern Front

Kingdom of Blechingia, hoping to take advantage of Krenya being at war in Thuadia attempted to take the Krenyan colony of Aleman and crossed the Blechingian-Krenyan (Aleman) border in December 1905. The quick advance from the first week of the war eventually went to a halt when Lyonheimer, former Krenyan colony and a country with strong ties to Krenya, went to the front to defend Krenyan interest in the region.

Following an unsuccessful defense of Aleman in 1905, Lyonheimer knew that tensions were extremely high. The Krenyan Duke, Valrin Kren, wanted Aleman, a region in Blechingia, desperately as it was a strategic goldmine. Kren had a meeting with King Stephen Orban of Krenyan-Lyonheimer, in December 1905, to discuss tactics on how to take Aleman. Both decided that, for the best chance of victory, they were to join the Iron Pact powers. Krenya and Krenyan-Lyonheimer joined the Iron Pact in December and Blechingia saw this as a threat, joining the Alliance around the same time. Vilhjálmur II of Blechingia knew that, however they have new allies, they are still extremely outnumbered. Vilhjalmur sent a telegram to Tytherial from Malmo, the closest Alliance member, requesting for support in inevitable upcoming attack. Thorin Felwyn of Tytherial agreed and Tytherial were entered into the unrest.

Krenyan snipers in the Lubbenau Mountains, c.1906

January 13th 1906, both sides began to dig trenches in the Lübbenau Mountains, taking only 2 months to complete, that went from the Bay of Asta to the Medovia border in the north. Around March 1906, the fighting began. Men that hadn’t already declared for their nations started to and people flocked to join as they saw it as an adventure. When they arrived in March, it wasn’t long until they realised this was not going to be the case. Due to the location of the trenches, extreme snowy weather was around most of the year. Not only this, but the mountains also made it hard to shoot the opposition in certain areas. Soldiers often died of hypothermia if they were not given coats. The conditions in both trenches were bad, people having mere rations to feast on a day. Snipers became a problem for both sides, with notable marksman József Puskas killing as many as 430 on his own and becoming one of the most renowned soldiers of the wartime efforts.

At the beginning of the war, Krenyan-Lyonheimer and Krenya were on-top, more firepower, more men and better technology. The problem was that the morale was getting low with the Krenyan side. Orban insisted they stay patriotic, and it would be over by next year. Many realised the brutality and harshness of the war at this point too. Both sides received food and supplies by either the Alliance or Iron Pact, it sometimes was not enough to feed all of the soldiers.

The first year did not have too much advancement, mostly stalemates as neither side could advance too far either direction. However, on the 20th of April 1907, a huge advance was made, due to extreme amounts of bombing from aircraft, Blechingia and Tytherial were forced to move back past the River Andoma, where Krenyan-Lyonheimer and Krenya followed. Both met at River Andoma on the 22nd of April 1907 and the Battle of Andoma began. The battle involved large amounts of casualties on both sides, being fought without trenches and in open conflict around the river. One of the largest and most brutal battles of the entire Great War, the Battle of Andoma was won by the Alliance after 6 months of brutal skirmish, ending on the 18th of October 1907.

Two Blechingian Soilders standing in a water felled trench near the River Andoma, c.1907

Following the large and unexpected defeat at the Battle of Andoma, the best Krenyan commanders and leaders met in Judapest to discuss the best way to continue. They had come across the idea of distracting the Alliance along the north, meaning less defended in the south allowing an attack on Malmo, the Blechingian capital city.

It was also around this time that the largest naval battle of the Southern Front occurred in the Battle of Asta where both the Alliance and the Iron Pact decided to try out the new destroyer-class vessels for the first time. However, due to the cost of the boats neither wanted them to get damaged. When the two met in the Bay of Asta three ships were sunk and two others badly damaged. This put off both sides, as this was a costly and useless way of combat, and so that was the final major naval battle of the Southern Front

The plan worked, as the Alliance headed north, the Iron Pact made a huge push through the southern defence and storming into the city of Malmo. The Battle of Malmo began on the 31st December 1907, in which the Krenyan-Lyonheimerish and Krenyan soldiers roamed the streets and took the city while the Alliance had little time to respond. The invasion of Aleman seemed to be successful, as Aleman was handed to Krenya upon surrender on the 3rd of January 1908.

Krenya and Krenyan-Lyonheimer thought this the end, thinking Blechingia and Tytherial would just give up, but they did not. In January 1908, using Tytherials large arrangement of armed battlements, artillery, tanks, vehicles etc, they launched a counter offensive from the capital city of Blechiniga at the time, Goteborg. The Alliance army arrived in Malmo on the 1st February 1908 and caught the Iron Pact off-guard, and starting the Second Battle of Malmo. During the conflict, homes and businesses were levelled, with the central parts of the city being almost destroyed. After two months of bombarding artillery and bomber planes, from both sides, the Alliance cause Iron Pact to flee out the city, for the risk of too much loss of life and material. They retreated back and began trench digging once again, and so did the Alliance.

Trench warfare began again, and the soldiers began to realise how little had been accomplished during the war, the bad conditions and the loss of friends had began to ware down Krenyan forces mentalities. Not only this, but PTSD also (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) began to become a commonality among soldiers that had been exposed to long-term effects of war. However, on the other side of the battlefield, the Alliance were confident and full of energy after winning the Second Battle of Malmo.

Although it looked bad, Valrin Kren had one of the ideas that would change the tide of the war, he proposed a plan to Stephen III to begin the usage of chemical weapons, mustard gas and city bombing. The plan was to start using mustard gas to catch Blechingia and Tytherial off-guard. The second stage of the plan was common civilian bombing to slow down the morale of the nation and stop people from signing up for the army.

Blechingian soldier wearing gas mask c. 1908

They started this in June 1908, bombarding cities and killing soldiers with chemical weapons. Weekly pushes ‘over the top’ from each side also occurred and the war looked like a competition again. The Iron Pact had the advantage in the air however due to Tytherial, the Alliance had the advantage on the ground.

Krenya knew this, so together with Krenyan-Lyonheimer, began sinking Tytherial’s ships in the Ice Sea, stopping the transport of tanks and reinforcements to Blechingia. Tytherial met this with firepower at sea, in the naval battle of Litcaerwofter, in August 1908, which ended in Iron Pact victory.

However, in the trenches, on the 16th of October 1908 every Alliance Soldier started a push towards the Pact trenches, surprising them with a rapid attack that worked, pushing the Krenyan-Lyonheimer Empire back into their own lands, past the Lübbenau Mountains. Eventually, pushing them all the way back to Judapest, where the Krenyans and Krenyan-Lyonheimer Empire surrendered. 01/01/09

The war was over on the Southern Front, however no sanctions were handed out until the end of the war in 1911, where Krenya were fined heavily and Krenyan-Lyonheimer was annexed and turned into Lyonheimer upon signing of the declaration by Stephen III.

War in Kasia

TBD

War in the east

As an imperialist ally of the Iron Pact and regional powerhouse, as soon as the Great War started, Arcadia joined. It started with a late 1905 invasion of Nicersdah, and when that looked like it would fail, they focused on other countries such as Latvia and Saaremaa and Yodivenis, both of which would fail, and by 1910, the Latvian and Saaremaan Army continued to push until half the country was in Latvian and Saaremaan hands, when Arcadia surrendered in January of 1911, ending the war in the East.

The Nicersdahian Invasion

The war in the East began with 100k Arcadians landing in the Nicersdahian fishing town of Cazerva on the 19th day of November 1905, quickly taking the town from the garrison of 250. President Drexa heard of this 3 days later and called for full mobilisation. The 100k stayed in Cazerva until the next 100k arrived in January, when the 200k went on the move towards Corinamax, the Nicersdahian Capital. They hoped to seize Corinamax, behead the President, and stabilize the land as new Arcadian territory. This was complicated when they were ambushed in the forests leading to the main Nicers Road by the 112k mobilized Nicersdahians, forcing them back to Cazerva for another month to reinforce at 300k.

When it was heard that the Nicersdahian Army, now numbering 184k, were all reinforcing the capital, 100k Arcadians trenched in to block the Nicersdahians from leaving the capital. They didn't swim or fly as they are religiously afraid of the water and didn't have planes. The remaining 200k Arcadians would spend the next year, getting 300k in reinforcements on the way, capturing small town after small town, while some 200k led by the President, who sneaked through the trenches take them back and snip away ay the invaders force until March 1907 when the New Nicersdahian Army engaged with a large portion of the Arcadian Invasion Force.

By now the Nicersdahian Army had 150k men, and then NNA had 550k men, while the invaders on the trenches had 150k and the invader main force had 700k. At Yarnuega's surrounding fields and farms within a 100 sq mi area, over 1 million men engaged with 600k of the invaders and 550k Nicersdahians with 20k Vultesians began the March Offensive, which was this battle, which lasted the entirety of March and half of April. The battle ended with the Nicersdahians being repelled, however 100k men lay dead, and 72k of them were Arcadian, and 150k were captures, and 117k were Arcadian. Tactically, Arcadia won, but strategically, Nicersdah won (Pyrrhic victory).

However the Vultesians who were the true losers in this battle, as they lost some of their best commanders and 1/4 of their detachment in a war that was extremely unpopular at home and they had no interest in. Furthermore, they would go on to be hardly remembered, or at least way less that deserved for their bravery, discipline, and courage, as they led some of the defining strikes in the offensive that kept Nicersdahian hopes alive after the battle. They were truly a remarkable group in this war.

Another remarkable person in this battle was President Drexa, who served as commander of the army and was able to keep morale up after the loss and kept his army to fighting shape in the face of an invasion that had so far killed hundreds of thousands. He is widely regarded as the best commander in Nicersdahian Military History, or at least in the past 750 years of it. He would die of disease, which disease is unknown, as Nicersdahians are poor record keepers

The effects of the March Offensive were massive and rippled back to Arcadia, but for now, let's stick to Nicersdah. The NNA, now numbering 496k men, would lead many small attacks on the now 411k strong AIF, and would, by April 1908, push them back to the Eastern Trenches, where not much has moved, and by June, the AIF had evacuated and Nicersdah was at peace. The remaining 12k Vultesians were sent home, and neither party would attend a formal peace treaty, which means the war technically still continues, but after government changes in both countries, no one acknowledges it.

Invasion of Yodivenis

The Invasion of Yodivenis is a much less documented affair due to Arcadian and Yodivenan attempts to get rid of the records immediately following the war, the reasons why are currently unknown, though are widely accepted to be widespread war crime and an attempt to not get prosecuted nor shunned internationally for it, but that is just speculation. Due to this fact, this article will be incomplete, but this will tell you what we do know.

Following the March Offensive, Arcadia realised their plan of using Nicersdah as a jumping off point is not going to work, and in a desperate attempt to win this war, launched 2 more invasions, one in October of 1907 against Latvia and Saaremaa, and one in December against Yodivenis. After months of transport and wait, 300k Arcadians landed in Yodivenis. The Yodivenan Armed Forces were caught off guard and lords raised their own separate, incohesive armies to fight back against the Arcadians, all of which were crushed in battle after battle to the larger, technologically superior Arcadians. Half the country had fallen by March 1909, just 4 months in. Notably, the Yodivenans use scorched-earth tactics to advance their agenda. But then, King Cedric Stevenson was finally able to assemble his forces.

What happened next is called the Battle of Cedric's Hill, named so after the battle. Not much is known about how the battle occured, but stories tell of it's ferocity and close-quarters combat, where any small dent in the hill could kill you. After 4 days of fierce fighting, the Arcadians fled the hill with having 20k men fallen.

This battle was a turning point, and over the next 2 years, using questionable methods and practices, the Yodivenans pushed the Arcadians out, able to mobilize more and more of its population as purchased weapons arrived and more of it was liberated.

The Escape of Bad Tide River is a well known event throughout Meredonna, when the remainder of the Arcadian Army tried to flee whilst being fired upon bu the Yodivenans, but the tide switched as they went away and huge waves crashed them back, forcing the survivors to fight for their lives while the Yodivenan massacred them. A total of 13k Arcadians escaped Yodivenis, less than 3%, in comparison to the almost half that got out of Nicersdah, showing the brutality and viciousness of the Yodivenan army. The Treaty of Port Libre had Yodivenan diplomats, who were constantly scorned by the Arcadian people for "savagery", which almost led to the Yodivenan not signing the treaty asking for harsher punishments, but eventually signed.

The Latvian and Saaremaan Invasion

The final of the invasions of Arcadia were of Latvia and Saaremaa, Arcadia's Northern Neighbor. This as by far the largest invasion by soldiers fighting, as Arcadia used it's full fighting force to attack the powerhouse Latvia and Saaremaa was. Both sides fought with 9 million men, and millions would die. It began on October 21st.

On the 21st of October, 1907, at 0200, Arcadian men marched under the cover of darkness into Latvia and Saaremaa's land. But it wasn't to much advantage, as the entirety of Latvia and Saaremaa, with tales being told of 50k men at arms coming to kill their children, when in reality was it was only 9 million. The orders to mobilize were sent out and estimates put their time until mobilization to be until Early December. Until then, the Latvian Border Guard and National Guard would have to do.

In the town of Liepaja, starting on the morning of November 5th, the border guard of Latvia and Saaremaa fought in vicious urban fighting with a much larger section of the invading army outnumbered 10 to 1 for 12 days until they either died, fled, or were captured. This was the first of several strategic targets for the Arcadians before their grand prize of Greater Riga which would secure them the nation.

What the Battle of Liepaja did though, was buy the Latvia and Saaremaans some time. By the time the next target was reached on December 2nd, the might of the Latvia and Saaremaan army had been assembled, and the two sides were forced to trench in...

To be continued...

Fall of colonial empires

TBD

New weapons in use

TBD

The turning point

TBD

The War to end all wars

TBD

New World Order

TBD